4 THE MOLLUSK FISHERIES 



for food and livelihood by better utilization of naturally pro- 

 ductive lands under water. Since the chief purpose of legis- 

 lative action under which this work was undertaken was to 

 ascertain how the best economic results could be secured, we 

 have thought it wise to embody the results of our investigation, 

 in a plan which is suggested as a basis for appropriate legisla- 

 tion for making possible a suitable system of shellfish cultiva- 

 tion similar to that which already exists in Rhode Island, Con- 

 necticut and many other coast States, and which has been car- 

 ried on for more than two thousand years on the shores of the 

 Mediterranean Sea. 



The following tentative outlines are offered, and it is in- 

 tended to subject each topic to an unprejudiced examination 

 and discussion : — 



A Peoposed System of Culture foe the Tidal Flats axd 

 Watees of Massachusetts. 



The Purpose. — The proposed system of shellfish culture 

 aims to develop the latent wealth of the tidal waters, to in- 

 crease the output of tidal flats already productive, and to make 

 possible the reclamation of large portions of the waste shore 

 areas of our Commonwealth. It is further designed to foster 

 dependent and allied industries; to extend the shellfish market, 

 both wholesale and retail; to multiply opportunities for the 

 transient visitors and shore cottagers to fish for clams and 

 quahaugs for family use, and to ensure fishermen a reliable 

 source of bait supply; to increase the earnings of the shore 

 fishermen, and to furnish work to thousands of unemployed; 

 to increase the value of shore property; to add to the taxable 

 property of the shore towns and cities of the State; to secure 

 to all the citizens of the State a proper return from an unutil- 

 ized State asset ; to furnish the consuming public with a greater 

 quantity of sea food of guaranteed purity ; and in every way, 

 both in the utilization of present and in the creation of new 

 resources to build up and develop the fast-declining shellfish 

 industries of the Commonwealth. 



Private v. Public Ownership of Tidal Flats. — The first dif- 

 ficulty confronting this proposed system is the too frequently 

 accepted fallacy that all lands between the tide marks now are 



